Yeo Jin Goo Talks About Working With Lee Se Young In “The Crowned Clown,” His Love Life, And More

Following the conclusion of his popular drama “The Crowned Clown,” Yeo Jin Goo sat down for an interview where he talked about his co-star Lee Se Young, the difficulties of the dual role on the drama, his thoughts on dating, and more.

Based on the hit film “Masquerade,” “The Crowned Clown” is about the events that transpire after King Lee Heon (played by Yeo Jin Goo) replaces himself with a lowly clown, Ha Seon (also played by Yeo Jin Goo), who has the exact same face as him.

On working with Lee Se Young, he shared, “It was great. There are so many things I’m thankful for. Some people may know, but she called me ‘King oppa‘ on set. Even when we were filming emotional scenes and she was tired, she was always bright and joked around while filming. Depending on your style, those kinds of emotional scenes can be difficult to deal with. I’m the type of person that follows how others do it, and this was the first time I had as much fun while filming. The fun atmosphere on set was a great source of strength.”

Yeo Jin Goo added, “Lee Se Young and Kim Sang Kyung were the biggest mood makers on set. Everyone in general had great personalities, so they joked around a lot and many great ideas came out.”

He then talked about how some had noticed that Lee Se Young’s phone background was a picture of him. He remarked, “That was in the beginning. I think she did that on purpose so that we could become close. At first I was a bit flustered and surprised, but then I felt that she had done it so that I could feel at ease. From then on, I became more comfortable, so I was thankful. I even felt a bit apologetic because I didn’t put her as the background photo on my phone.”

On his dual role as the king and the clown, Yeo Jin Goo commented, “There was a lot to think about. The hardest thing was that I couldn’t imagine how the whole picture would turn out. Since I had to act while thinking about how I would appear, it definitely wasn’t easy.”

He continued, “However, as I imagined and acted out the scenes where Lee Heon and Ha Seon meet, I thought a lot about the flow and planned accordingly. Normally in a scene, you act and then react. But this time I had to do both at the same time, so I learned a lot.”

Yeo Jin Goo picked Ha Seon the clown as the character that was most difficult to portray. He explained, “When filming, I thought that Lee Heon was more difficult. But as time passed, Ha Seon became more difficult. It isn’t easy to portray the small changes in a person. A small [acting] mistake could either make [Ha Seon] appear too easily affected by the characters around [him] or give the feeling that nothing much has changed, so I worked hard to convey things with detail.”

The actor also expressed his thoughts about his love life, saying, “I don’t really think about dating right now. My desire to work is really strong. My wishes to be better in acting are bigger right now. I’m the type of person that can’t do many things at once, which is why I’m not forming romantic feelings right now. I think it’s a time for me to continue growing. I’m thinking that it’s the right choice to do something that I like.”

Yeo Jin Goo further shared, “I’ve never been in a relationship, but it’s not like I’ve never felt affection and those kinds of emotions. I’ve loved countlessly through dramas. I think that might contribute to why I don’t feel the desire to date more.”

He explained, “I’ve loved dramatically and affectionately through dramas like ‘The Moon Embracing the Sun‘ and such. It’s not like I didn’t feel the emotions at all because I was acting. That’s why I get tired of those kinds of emotions. I think, ‘They love each other to the point of getting hit by an arrow?’ Though I’ve never dated, I’ve learned that it’s something difficult.”

If you haven’t already, check out the final episode of “The Crowned Clown” below!